I’d like to take a minute and thank a few people that have taken the time to help me over the past few days.

First, Matt Cox at Big Bear Brewing in Coral Springs. I was fortunate enough to spend Tuesday with Matt in the brewery while he was brewing a Kolsch. Not only did he allow me to participate in the brew but he tolerated my relentless questioning. He even let me clean the mash tun and the kettle! He’s also taken the time to look over our brewery plans and make several suggestions. Matt is a great brewer and a great guy. If you’re ever down that way you absolutely have to stop by. All of Matt’s beers are terrific and they’ve got fantastic food there as well. And if you do make it by, tell him Mike from Due South said ‘hi’. And thanks.

Also, I’d like to thank Joey Redner and Justin Clark from Cigar City Brewing in Tampa. They were in south Florida for a couple of days this week, had tons of events to attend, and took the time to stop by our new location and offer some great ideas for our floorplan. They even went out of their way to come to Boynton from Ft. Lauderdale when they were headed to Miami! Justin was also a great help at the Cask Ale Festival in St. Pete. These are some of the best folks in the business and they prove it every day.

I hope everyone that reads this has the opportunity to have a conversation with each one of these guys someday and gets to experience the kindness, knowledge and passion for the brewing industry they all have. Until then, I hope the next time you have a Hibernation from Big Bear or a Maduro from Cigar City, maybe knowing these guys are out there will make the beer taste that much better.